Tarte Tatin is the French name for a famous dessert invented years ago by the Tatin sisters, in their restaurant at Lamotte-Beuvron on the Loire River. It consists of caramelized sliced apples oven-baked in a skillet with the pastry on top. When done, it is turned upside-down so the crust is on the bottom and the apple slices – wonderfully brown, buttery, and glazed with caramel—remain in a design on top. The amazing thing about Tarte Tatin is how the caramelized apples are somehow transformed into something entirely new while still retaining their distinct apple taste. It’s one of the easiest desserts I’ve attempted it make, but also the most challenging. It’s easy because it’s baked upside down, which means there is no need for special decorations or even beautiful rolling of the dough. The real challenge is finding the right balance when caramelizing the apples. Julia Child captures the essence of the dessert in this quote.
“To be sure, a Tarte Tatin should be brown and sweet, but it needs to be more. The apples need to be cooked in sugar and butter long enough that they are not only coated in buttery caramel but also permeated with sweetness. Like what happens in jam-making, where some of the water in the fruit is replaced by sugar.”
Perhaps the most special part of this post is the pan that I used to cook the tart. On a trip to Paris last fall, my parents visited E. Dehellerin. Tucked away on rue Coquillière not too far from the Louvre, this store has been selling cookware for professionals and serious home chefs since 1820. According to my parents, it’s a store that definitely favors function over form, boasting aisles packed with pots and pans reaching as high as the ceiling. Julia Child was a regular here purchasing kitchenware while she attended school at Le Cordon Bleu. Knowing that E. Dehellerin is famous for their copper, my dad purchased a Tarte Tatin pan which was made specifically for this recipe. I was pleased to learn that not only does copper conduct heat faster, but it also does so much more evenly. This combination is perfect for temperature control when working with the sugar at a high temperature. Thanks dad!
The following recipe is courtesy of Julia Child’s book The Way to Cook, published in 1994. A Christmas gift from my dad several years ago, this is a magnificent cookbook in which Julia distills her knowledge from a lifetime of cooking into one book. In the book, she states that this recipe is her fourth and definitive recipe for Tarte Tatin.
Tarte Tatin Recipe
Ingredients for Pastry Dough
¾ cups flour
¼ cup cake flour
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons chilled butter, diced
2 tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening
¼ cup ice water, or as needed
Ingredients for Tart Tatin
6 Golden Delicious apples, cored, peeled and halved
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 ½ cups sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, as accompaniment
Directions
Preparing the dough. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, place the flours, sugar and butter. Pulse 5 or 6 times in ½-second bursts to break up the butter. Add the shortening, turn on the machine and immediately add the ice water, pulsing 2 or 3 times. The dough should look like a mass of smallish lumps and should just hold together in a mass when a handful is pressed together. If the mixture is too dry, pulse in more water by droplets. Turn the dough out onto the work surface and with the heel of your hand, rapidly and roughly push egg-size blobs into a 6-inch smear. Gather the dough into a relatively smooth cake, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).
Preparing the apples. Quarter, core, and peel the apples; cut the quarters in half lengthwise. Toss in a bowl with the lemon and ½ cup of sugar, and let steep 20 minutes so they will exude their juices. Drain them.
The caramel. Set the frying pan over moderately high heat with the butter, and when melted blend in the remaining 1 cup sugar. Stir about with a wooden spoon for several minutes, until the syrup turns a bubbly caramel brown – it will smooth out later, when the apples juices dissolve the sugar.
Arranging the apples in the pan. Remove from heat and arrange a layer of apple slices nicely in the bottom of the pan to make an attractive design. Arrange the rest of the apples on top, close packed and only reasonably neat. Add enough so that they heap up 1 inch higher than the rim of the pan – they sink down as they cook.
Preliminary stove-top cooking. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F for the next step, placing the rack in the lower middle level. Set the pan again over moderately high heat, pressing the apples down as they soften, and drawing the accumulated juices up over them with the bulb baster – basting gives the apples a deliciously buttery caramel flavor. In several minutes, when the apples begin to soften, cover the pan and continue cooking 10 to 15 minutes, checking and basting frequently until the juices are thick and syrupy. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly while you roll out the dough.
The dough cover. Roll the chilled dough into a circle 3/16 inch thick and 1 inch larger than the top of your pan. Cut 4 steam holes, ¼-inch size, 1 ½ inches from around the center of the dough. Working rapidly, fold the dough in half, then in quarters; center the point over the apples. Unfold the dough over the apples. Press the edges of the dough down between the apples and the inside of the pan.
Bake and serve. Bake about 20 minutes at 425 degrees F. Bake until the pastry has browned and crisped. Being careful of the red-hot pan handle, remove from the oven. Still remembering that the pan is red-hot, turn the serving dish upside down over the apples and reverse the two to unmold the tart. Serve hot, warm, or cold, with the optional whipped cream or ice cream.
Heather’s Helpful Hints
After you take your tart out of the oven, you can test to see whether it’s ready be unmolded. Simply tilt the pan, and if the juices are runny rather than a thick syrup, boil down rapidly on top on the stove. However, be sure not to evaporate them completely or the apples will stick to the pan. If a few apples stick to the pan—which does happen—rearrange the slices as necessary.
Katherine McLaughlin
I made two pans of the dessert! They were so pretty and so delicious! I wouldn’t call it “no fuss”, but so worth the effort involved! I think my next attempt will be easier.
I made mine the night before my dinner party and refrigerated them overnight. The next late afternoon I warmed them in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes, inverted them, and voila! (Wish I could include a photo here.) very pleased! Thank you!
I used 9” cake pans.
Heather
Katherine, I'm so glad that this recipe worked out for you! I love the idea of making the recipe the night before and then warming it up in the oven before serving. I think I will add that tip to my post! Happy Baking!
Katherine McLaughlin
Well, that makes me feel good! Thank you! I just finished my last leftover piece served with creme fraiche (so so good), and will miss having this tatin around the house! It was a big hit! Thank you for sharing!
Julie
Thank you for the great tip Katherine. I made the recipe the night before. It made hosting a breeze! “parfait mon ami”.
Michele
I made this and it looks great, however I had a lot of juice that poured out of the pan when I flipped it onto a serving platter. WhT did I do wrong??
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Hi Michele! What a bummer about the extra juice that came out at the end. Typically there is a little juice that comes out when I make mine. In terms of troubleshooting, the first thing I think of is that perhaps the sugar didn't fully caramelize in the beginning? That would make the sauce not quite a thick (although still super delicious). I also heard that sometimes the juiciness of the fruit can make a difference. Apparently, Gordon Ramsey peels the apples and leaves them in the fridge a day before so they dry out. They don't look so good then, but the caramel hides it. Finally acid makes caramel runny, so you could also try sweeter types of apples. Hopefully one of these ideas will give you success!
Tina Batori
Hi, Heather. Did I miss where you mentioned the size of pan to use? We're looking forward to eating this. ????
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Hi Tina, thanks for stopping by! I'll link the exact pan that I used below. That being said, you should be absolutely fine using any 9-inch oven resistant frying pan. Let me know how it goes!
This is the pan I used (it's totally not necessary): Mauviel Copper Tarte Tatin Pan
MOM
Oh this post took me back to our trip! What an amazing store it was. Wooden shelves constructed mostly of 2x4's floor to ceiling in small rooms with narrow isles both main floor and basement. When we were there two little boys were playing hide and seek in the basement running from room to room and peaking around the corners before dashing off for another hiding place. AND then the discussions dad and I had about who would be carrying this heavy item in their suitcase. How wonderful to see what you created with it and how much you learned about the material.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I think all the memories surrounding this piece of cookware are the best part of this post! I'm thinking about bringing the pan back with me and surprising dad with a baking adventure in the kitchen while I'm back in MN :)
the drunken cyclist
My favorite dessert of all time. And second place is not even close.
the drunken cyclist
And I forgot to mention that a "real" Tarte Tatin has a dollop of crème fraiche (not ice cream or [gasp] whipped cream)! ;-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
You're absolutely right! What I wouldn't give for a slice right now. It's the hardest thing to find on menus in the U.S. though...
the drunken cyclist
Every time we go to a restaurant and it is on the menu, I order it. If it is not on the menu, I ask why it isn't. I think I have tried more Tarte Tatin than the sisters themselves (and thanks for clearing up that they were from the Loire--I always thought they were Burgundian!).
emmabarrett1508
Stunning. This is my most favourite dessert. The best I've ever eaten was in Paris. Emma xx
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I think it's my new favorite too! It SO much better than regular apple pie which is one of my favorite comfort foods :-)
Sherri
Loved learning about the background to this Tarte Tatin, and how wonderful, a copper pan, thanks to your dad! I would love an entire set of copper cookware! What an amazing trip for your parents to Paris :-)
I remember Julia Childs from my years in the States but but I've never had one of her cookbooks. Think I might have to get one now! I can almost smell the sweet apples just imagining being in your kitchen while you bake this!
Thank you Heather for another wonderful post and I hope that you had a blessed, joy-filled Easter :-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thank you Sherri! I think learning about the history was half of the fun in making this dessert! I too now dream of having a collection of copper cookware. The only thing holding me back is my wallet :) I actually found a video of Julia making this dessert which was great to watch. She is such a wonderful character in the kitchen! I hope that your Easter was wonderful as well and happy Monday :)
Sherri
Character is the word for her isn't it? ;-)
Yes, copper cookware is far from cheap, sadly...
We did thanks Heather and some lovely sunny skies too, hope for you too :-)
sprinklesandsauce
love that look! so simple yet elegant!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thank you! It's the perfect no-fuss dessert :)
Just Add Attitude
I am a big fan of Tarte Tatin altho it's a while since I made it or indeed tasted one as it rarely appears on menus here. Your version looks delicious. How lovely that you gotva cooper pan from the shop in Paris where Julia Child once shopped. On a visit to France quite a few years ago and reading in a guide book about Lamott- Beuvron I took a small detour to visit it and had Tarte Tatin in the hotel there, sadly it wasn't the finest example.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Oh what a treat to have visited the restaurant where the dessert was invented (even if the tart was somewhat mediocre). I first tasted tarte tatin when I was studying abroad in France and absolutely fell in love with the dessert! Sadly, it's almost impossible to find it on a menu here in the US. I perused few quite a few cookbooks and websites trying to find an authentic recipe and I was pretty happy with this one. I've been slowly nibbling away at it all week and am down to the final slice today :)
thefoodandwinehedonist
This looks great! I tried making this years ago and failed miserably - the crust was awful and apples runny. Might give it another go.
And copper rules! I got a set thanks to the ol W-S discount.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I had to start over at the beginning because my caramel sauce heated up waaay to fast- copper is quite the heat conductor! However, now that I'm used to it I would LOVE to add some more pans to my collection. It would be so dangerous if I had a WS discount...
Tracy Lee Karner
Beautiful! And I'm envying your copper pan!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Yes! It's the first piece of copper cookware that I've owned and I'm in love with it :) I could actually tell the difference working with it over high heat which was great.
tableofcolors
Your Tarte Tatin looks quite delicious...hoping to give your recipe a try soon!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thank you! It's a great recipe, I had looked at a few online and in cookbooks and finally settled on this one. I think it's a winner :)